How instructional leaders promote parental involvement: the Israeli case

Abstract

Purpose

Instructional leadership is an educational leadership approach in which principals are regularly and actively involved in a wide range of activities aimed at improving teaching and learning. The current study sought to answer how the principal's role in promoting parental involvement is part of their instructional leadership responsibility.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 24 Israeli principals. Data analysis was a three-step process: sorting, coding, and categorizing.

Findings

This study revealed that principals encouraged two types of parental involvement: academic-oriented, designed to support student learning and achievement, and non-academic-oriented, designed to accomplish other goals. From the instructional leadership perspective, principals should mainly prioritize academic-oriented parental involvement. Implications and further research are discussed.

Originality/value

The question of how the role of principals in encouraging parental involvement can become a part of principals' instructional leadership has not yet been explored. The present study narrows this gap in the existing research literature.

Citation

Shaked, H. (2022), "How instructional leaders promote parental involvement: the Israeli case", International Journal of Educational Management, Vol. 36 No. 7, pp. 1193-1205. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJEM-05-2022-0171